Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

This thread is dedicated to anyone who still plays Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne to this day as well as anyone who wishes to get started. Although the game is now ten years old, it is still active. You will find around 5-15k people on BNet on average, and there are also a couple of private communities worth mentioning:

W3arena, an European private server with no hackers and good latency. Not all players are Europeans, but the servers are located in Germany, making the lag more significant for NA and non-EU players. Some of the best players are on this server, and it definitely features a good chunk of the remaining top EU (HLA, Insomnia, HoT, etc). The server is good and active, although there aren't that many people. It is however in Beta, so it might grow over time.

NetEase, a Chinese platform supporting WC3. As some of you know, WC3 is still very active in China and a lot of professional players still play on a competitive level. NetEase is a Chinese server and while some Europeans and (perhaps?) NA residents do play on it, it is assumed the lag will be significant for the majority of those who are not in Asia. This server is very populated and the best players in the world are on it. The setup process can be a bit daunting for non Chinese-speaking folks, but there are tutorials out there, namely yAwS' video on how to download and install NetEase. Give it a go if you can.

It is important to note that while those communities prove to be better than BNet for some people, partly because they bring the lag to a minimum, it is still completely viable for anyone to play on BNet. The lag is not as bad as people make it out to be, with a delay usually neighboring 1-2 seconds at the most. Hackers are a reality, and while they can be encountered somewhat often, you are unlikely to be overwhelmed by them and they will only represent about 30% of your games on very bad days, 40% at the very most (I for example have played about 50 games so far, and I have encountered less than 10 hackers, about 5-6). BNet has its advantages, for instance the number of players is much greater than for the private communities (except for YY) and there are a lot more fun custom games. I personally play on BNet and my experience is enjoyable so far.

Several websites are also definitely worth visiting, depending on what you are looking for:

ReplaysReplays.net, a Chinese website which features a very large array of professional replays. It is very active and dozens of replays are uploaded on it every day. Great for anyone who is looking to learn more about the depth of the game.Replayers, an international replay website that is great for beginners. It features fewer replays in general, but allows you to search based on the competitions and it is in English. Still quite active today.WCReplays, another international website. Very good for replays, still updated on a daily basis with the most recent and competitive replays out there.

Leagues & CompetitionsZOTAC, this weekly cup quickly became famous and lasted a solid 7 years before moving on to another game. The last tournament was held on January 25th, 2014 and gave us the Night Elf LawLiet as a final winner. The brackets of most of the older tournaments are still available on the website.GERA Cup, a Russian-made tournament which has very much replaced the aforementioned ZOTAC. It occurs every week on Sunday and almost always features the best players around, from Lucifer to HawK and sometimes other Koreans, like FoCuS.Fit4Gaming, a German website which handles a couple of WC3 leagues along with other games. It has a Solo League and another league where players get a chance to represent their countries. It is mostly for Europeans and it is active.WC3CL, another German website. I must admit I do not know much about this one, as I do not speak German. I recall it being around for quite some time, and replays of the competitions featured on this website are still uploaded to Replayers quite frequently, so it is most definitely active.There are more tournaments and cups, notably WEL, Genius Cup and AWL, but the actual websites are harder to find and often in Chinese. The replays of those competitions can be found on both Replayers and Replays.net.

StreamsBack2Warcraft, a team of two German casters who have done a stellar job supporting the community for the past two years. They generally stream on Twitch, and also have their own website linked earlier in this paragraph. They stream the GERA Cup every Sunday and also accept donations which get rerouted to prize pools and other means of supporting the competitive scene. I strongly recommend to follow them on Twitch, as they do some kickass work. If you are interested, it is also possible to subscribe to their Twitch channel, which offers perks such as replay packs from every single tournament they cast.Grubby, as previously mentioned, still streams some WC3 games every now and then. He mostly focuses on SC2, so WC3 streams do not happen that often anymore, but they still make for some great quality content.Lucifer, a Korean Undead player who recently returned from his military service, is now streaming as well. He was also quite the legend on WC3 and achieved an impressive level in his prime before he was forced to retire. He recently came back to play WC3 and has been streaming very actively. He participated in almost every ZOTAC shortly before the tournament ended and attended WCG 2013.yAwS, a former professional Human player notorious for his 2v2 pair with dArk. A long-time veteran of the 2v2 scene, he was also skilled in solo and provided us with a lot of entertaining games. He is streaming again nowadays and playing on w3arena. He also has a Facebook page, which he uses to release replay packs.SyDe, former top French player who plays Undead. He used to be in top-tier French teams such as lgR and has recently returned to the game. He plays on YY and streams almost every day, definitely worth the attention!Purebe, the aforementioned YouTube caster also has a Twitch account and streams fairly often. Definitely worth checking out.A lot of the currently active high level players also stream on a regular basis:WhiteAndNerdyyy (Undead)EnTe (Undead)Cechi (Undead)DkHRain (Undead)DkHPain (Undead)StarShapedSTHLM (Night Elf)SK-HoT (Night Elf, not the "real" HoT)InquisitiveHawK (Human)DHC.Prado (Orc)All of these players regularly attend ZOTAC and sometimes other tournaments, so they are certainly interesting to follow.

YouTubeBack2Warcraft also have a YouTube channel, which is worth checking out. They upload nearly all of their casts, plus highlight videos and more. Subscribing is again highly recommended.Purebe, an American caster who has uploaded a lot of WC3 games. He has a series named The War Cast, in which he does audio commentaries of pro games. He also does older games in his series called Crowned Replays, which features some of the more legendary games of WC3 history. Still very active to this day.Stonebreakkid, another English-speaking caster, somewhat more famous than Purebe. He has been around for quite a while and knows a lot about the game. He is still very much active.WCG, the YouTube channel of the World Cyber Games. They do keep videos of the WC3 games featured in the WCG events of the last few years. WC3 2013 also included WC3 (for the last time, apparently), where TH000 defeated Moon to become the last WCG winner for WC3.Grubby, the former WC3 professional player and legend still releases some WC3 content from time to time, such as his series of Warcraft III Commentaries, which is interesting for players of all levels. Grubby was an incredible player on TFT, full of insight and remarkable game vision.CrotaGaming, a YouTube channel dedicated to Blizzard games. They have a good amount of WC3 games, but also SC2 and even Hearthstone. Their content is pretty good and worth watching.

The TL CommunityThis thread was originally created for WC3 enthusiasts to find other people to play with through TL. Over time, though, the focus has shifted and it is now the place on TL where we discuss everything and anything related to WC3; from tournaments to possible news or opinions. I would still invite you to try and find people to play with though. Join us in our talks about the eSports scene, ask questions about the game if you're new or just thinking about giving it a go; anything.

The Reddit CommunityOn top of the TL community, reddit is also worth checking. The subreddit dedicated to WC3 has been gaining traction and contains some good posts, much like this one, which is a summary designed to help you start playing WC3. Especially useful if you are interested in playing on NetEase.

LiquipediaLet us not forget that we now have our own little Liquipedia portal dedicated to WC3. You can access it here. It is the product of a community effort, so it is constantly under construction. As it stands, it has a heavy focus on the competitive scene, specifically tournaments results and the likes. There are pages which pertain to the actual game, such as races or units, but they have yet to be built. But fear not, in time, they will be.If you want to help out, feel free to contact them, they are always looking for new contributors.

Lastly, here is some information about the game itself and its lore, useful for anyone who wishes to know more before jumping in to join us and also valuable to every player who wants to get better and improve their level of play.

- Control and micro are paramount. Any unit you lose matters, as it gives experience to your opponent's Hero, and levels are a huge factor of any game. You should be very careful of how many of your units die to your opponents, and you should save them whenever possible. Failing that, deny them if you can, as killing your own units takes away all the experience your opponent's Hero would gain.- Your Hero is your most important unit. They have an immense impact on the game, and the choice of your Heroes always matters, whether you get one or three.- Scouting is important, although it happens less than in SC2, because your scout is likely to die and therefore give experience. It is however still important to know what your opponent is doing, so I believe it is a matter of doing it at the right time and paying attention.- Your strategy matters. Read: the units you choose to make, how many you make and how you use them matters. That is why it is important to know what your opponent is doing, if they are going for mass air, you need to be prepared, as not all units are fit to counter that.- Timing is important. You have to know when to creep, when to harass, when to fight, when to retreat (that includes using a TP to retreat), when to push, when to be defensive or aggressive and so forth.- Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your race is important as well. You have to know what to expect and you have to know where, when and how your hits will be most painful in all situations. I'll extend on that later.- The map matters. Your strategy and general stance should change based on the map you are playing on. Some maps make harassing more effective, other maps will make creeping more profitable.- Watch for the Tech of your enemy. It is one of the first things you should look at when scouting, for your opponent's Tech often gives away their strategy. Someone who stays T1 for a long time is either working on an all-in tactic or is expanding. Someone who stays T2 and does not proceed to T3 for a while will likely mass T2 units and will be looking to push or expand. Someone who rushes to T3 will almost always do a timing push and will have high tier units fairly quickly.- Map control is important. Night Elves have Wisps, which they can put on any tree on the map. Humans have farms which can be built in a lot of places and can tremendously help with map control. Orcs have great scouting abilities thanks to their Heroes and Undead have Ghouls, which make for a fast and cheap scout also capable of shutting down unprotected expansions without much effort.- Position very often decides of the outcome of a fight. The composition of your army also decides of the position you should choose to fight in. Beefy units first, squishy units in the back. An Orc player typically benefits from fighting in an open space, as does an Undead player, for it is easier to focus Heroes in such situations and those two races are very good at that. Humans and Night Elves often need to keep their fragile units in the back and choose to face their opponent in a well thought-out position.- Do not be stubborn about chasing units or Heroes. Very often players will find themselves outplayed when they relentlessly chase after one low HP unit or Hero while the entirety of their army is being decimated. Keep to your position and focus on the fight at hand, not on single units.- Use items. Bigger creep camps often give very good items, which can either be used or sold. Most maps also have shops, which you should take advantage of. A Potion of Lesser Invulnerability can sometimes change the outcome of a fight, as can a Scroll of Healing. This includes your racial shop. Always make sure you have one at any time of the game, and use it whenever necessary.- Keep your food supply high. Supply blocking is very unforgiving in WC3, as you typically have less units than in SC2 and the building time of supply buildings is significantly longer. It is important to be on top of your macro and always watch your food count.- Learn how to build your base. Sometimes game changing fights will take place in a player's base, and the layout of said base can easily decide of the outcome. This is especially true if you are Undead. Night Elves should also be aware of that as having available Moon Wells nearby is capital.- Be careful when you creep. Harassing in WC3 is not only common, it is expected. Creep jacking (the act of being caught by your opponent while you are in the middle of killing a creep camp) can very often put you behind. This is especially true if you are Human, or if you are playing against an Orc or Undead, as those two races are very prone to stealing experience and/or items.

HumansAs a Human player, you are typically vulnerable in the early game and the chances of you suffering some harass are quite high. On the other hand, you get stronger as the game goes on, especially if you've established your economy with an early expansion, as the typical trio of Human Heroes (Archmage/Mountain King/Paladin) is VERY powerful and the late game Human units are overall very potent. Militia is key to your defense, attack and creeping. Humans are notorious for easily clearing relatively hard creep camps with the help of Militia. It can also be useful later in the game as it provides what one might call cannon fodder in large fights, and it is always a resourceful way of fending off an attack. T2 units are also powerful, notably casters. Mass casters is a very common strategy but it does require a great deal of micro to be successful, as these units are all very low on HP and do not have great armor. Humans tend to creep and reach for a fast level 3 before they do any kind of real aggression, although early harass is definitely an option if you have excellent control. Humans are very effective at cancelling buildings and killing workers, as they don't really need more than their Archmage and two Elementals to do damage, or even their Mountain King with a few units, provided they are level 3. Any player who chooses to harass a Human will almost always go for Peasants, as they are very vulnerable and killing them can provide you with a real advantage. The Archmage is almost always the choice of any player, mostly because of the Water Elementals (which are incredibly strong after level 2) and the Brillance Aura, which makes the Archmage a walking mana fountain. He is however fairly fragile, so good control is required. The Mountain King is also incredibly powerful, definitely amongst the strongest Heroes in the game. He has a very nasty stun and is very beefy, so he should never be underestimated.

OrcsAs an Orc player, you are very vulnerable during your tech and during the T2 phase of the game. As Orc players tend to have less army, especially in the beginning, losing any unit early on is a huge deal for them. Delaying the T2 infrastructures of an Orc is very easy and does wonders, and destroying their burrows goes a long way to giving you an advantage as they are easy to kill, thus supply blocking the Orc easily. The T3 of Orcs is extremely powerful, but as they have a lot of very good T2 units as well, it is generally a matter of playstyle. The latest trends have Orc players go for T3 quite often, mostly for the Lightning Orb, as it has become a must for the Blademaster. Orcish units are expensive and they have to know what to do. Raiders are typically the way to go, as Ensnare is a completely free disable that costs no mana at all and isn't magic, and therefore can be cast on anything and everything. It allows for an easy shut down of any unit or Hero and makes focusing a breeze. Orcs typically do a lot of physical damage and lack casters and magic, as their most powerful units and heroes are on the physical side. They also have tons of disables when you add Heroes like Shadow Hunter or Tauren Chieftain to Raiders. Orc players tend to harass a lot, although they can also creep. It generally depends on the match-up and the map. They have excellent map control as they can scout easily with the BM, who is very fast, and with the Far Seer who can summon Wolves for an easy scout. Due to the nature of the BM (invisibility), one can expect to be creep jacked when playing against an Orc.

Night ElvesAs a Night Elf player, your weaknesses shift depending on the time of the day. Naturally, a NE player is stronger at night, not only because most of their units will be able to hide but also because their Moon Wells will regenerate, giving them extra HP and mana regeneration. As a consequence they are more vulnerable during the day, whereas losing their Moon Wells is horrible because it not only deprives them of food supply but also of heals. Night Elf players are typically extremely versatile, they are the race that arguably benefits the most from the Tavern because a lot of Neutral Heroes fit very well within their strategies. I would say that they are quite wood dependent, and killing their Wisps to shut down their resources is a very viable move that pays off if you don't lose too many units in the process. I believe that positioning is primordial when fighting a Night Elf, as the fights tend to require you to properly contain their army and do good damage across the board while protecting your units to the maximum. Night Elves players can harass or creep very well, and excellent players tend to do both at the same time. A key component to Nigh Elf early game is what we call AoW creeping: using your Ancient of War (the first building they have to produce military units) to tank damage from the creeps and leave their units unharmed. As a result, they can easily creep with their AoW and a couple of units and run off with their Hero to harass the opponent if the situation allows it. Keep in mind any unit killed by a building (be it a tower of any race or a Night Elf Ancient) does not give any experience, so they do have to be careful as to who or what gives the last hit. It always depends on the situation and on the choices made by each player, but in most games, Night Elf players will benefit more from harassing as it helps them a lot in shutting down the leveling of their opponent - it directly affects any aggression they might suffer.

UndeadAs an Undead player, your weakness lies with your economy. Undead players tend to be the race which expands the less, quite simply because their expansions are very costly and often require a lot of commitment to defend. They also take a lot from their T3, which means that a fast tech is very often an advantage for them. Undead players rely a whole lot on Heroes, mostly because their nuking potential allows them to kill or severely damage units and Heroes in a matter of seconds, which can often be a game changer. As previously stated, their T3 units are very strong (mostly the Destroyer, the Frost Wyrm and perhaps the Abomination) and their T3 items are also incredible. They have the best orb in the game (-5 defense) and the nuking potential of the Death Knight + Lich combo is not to be trifled with. I would say they are most vulnerable when they are teching, as their Acolytes are quite easy to access and kill and since they use different workers for gold and wood, killing any Acolyte can prove to be horribly crippling. On the other hand, an Undead base is a real fortress and it is extremely hard to enter a base without being harmed, let alone win a fight in it. Undead players have a higher regeneration on the Blight their buildings create (similar to Zergs' creep) and their main and towers can slow you down, making any assault or battle in their base very challenging. Undead players direly need map control, as most races will choose to expand against them. Undead players tend to harass against Night Elves and Humans, and creep in the other two match-ups. In almost all cases, Undead players will put heavy pressure on any opponent who expands, as having a greater economy than the Undead often turns out to be a game winner. Their nuking potential allows them to be very aggressive and they become real scary with each level their Heroes gain. It is not unheard of to have your Hero two-shot by Undead nukes.

Warcraft III, being the third installment of the Warcraft franchise, is rather story-driven and the campaign is quite fascinating for both Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne. I highly recommend doing the campaign to anyone who is interested in the lore of World of Warcraft, as WC3 is the precursor to this game and represents the setup of the story told in WoW.

For those reasons, one can find a lot of information about the background story by playing WC3, and a lot of websites give extra information about the important characters of the game, going far back into the story of the franchise. Here is a list of most of the important characters you will meet and learn about through WC3, and who also appear or are at least mentioned in WoW:

All of these characters play major roles in the story of both WC3 and its expansion, and they are all interesting to read about. Furthermore, and this is a personal opinion, but most fans seem to agree that the stories written in the WC3 games were of a higher quality than the new, more recent stories featured in the expansions of WoW. Nonetheless, WC3 (and the previous games for that matter) represent the solid basis of the extremely large and awesome universe created by Blizzard, which is why any self-respecting fan should absolutely look into it!

I've been trying to get into this game, I played it before TFT came out so I'm not really keen on build orders or strategies, I've been trying to learn but it would help to have someone who would teach me. Or even someone to play with regularly.

There was one really amazing gal. She was one of the biggest chick i ever seen.

Well, I've been playing here and there and I haven't met many humans so far to be honest (I play human myself). The level does seem to be much, much lower than before. That's sort of why I'm hoping to find a few people who would be up for some cgs and maybe more if we have enough players!

On September 28 2013 02:22 plgElwood wrote:I am the only person in the wordl that has never played WC3 or TFT online until 2013. Can you tell me a basic move i have a chnace with? ( something similar to sc ) ?

On September 28 2013 02:22 plgElwood wrote:I am the only person in the wordl that has never played WC3 or TFT online until 2013. Can you tell me a basic move i have a chnace with? ( something similar to sc ) ?

I love WC3 and have started playing it again since becoming kinda bored of SC2. I'm on all servers. A good private server that is easy to use is tft.w3arena.net

It has good ping and a good map pool. 1v1 and 2v2 is available.

I love the longer battles and micro tricks that WC3 had so much that I'm currently creating a custom game that is basically SC2 with heroes,items,creeps,increased HP,upkeep,etc,etc. I wanna see if it's possible to recreate that WC3 feel with SC2.

I'm aware of w3arena, I'm just always a little suspicious of private servers. So far I'm sticking to the official servers, but who knows. If we were to gather a small community and do anything we could use listchecker (if it still exists) or possibly the private server.

Also, you shoud check this out. People have been trying to revive WC3 through SC2, but I just don't like the graphics of SC2 for WC3. The graphics were always somewhat cartoony and it fit the theme and the game.

For those who are interested, I just found that that Lucifer recently returned to the game and is now playing Zotac and streaming, right here.

Also, it seems that the WC3 scene is still somewhat live, much to my surprise. A handful of pro players are still playing (TH000, Lyn, TeD, Lucifer, HLA, Sonik) and there is a zotac cup every week with a 100€ cash prize. A few other leagues are around too, like WEL or Fit4Gaming.